Dirty Harry
by mickeylover303
Summary: After making an emergency landing on an unknown planet, Naruto and Itachi find themselves on one side of the storm, while Sasuke meets a peculiar stranger on the other. NarutoSasuke. AU. Oneshot.


_Decided to put this one up, too. Originally, it was supposed to be a short side-shot to that other random space AU crack!fic toying with the overprotective sibling trope, focusing on Sasuke and his Gary Stu self (obvious bias is obviously obvious) to play with how he'd react to being smothered instead of feeling inadequate beneath Itachi's shadow like in canon._

_Only, it didn't end up that way? Even Naruto couldn't save this train wreck of a mess. After it blew up in my face, I gave up on logic half-way through, and now I'm not sure what to think about this OOC cesspool anymore._

_Basically drama and tension for the sake of drama and tension, because Sasuke's a bit of a brat who's far less cognisant of the world than he believes himself to be. I__tachi and Naruto, though, they're just plain weird. Itachi a little more ruthless than normal for me. No comment on the walking cliche that became Juugo._

_So in short, yes, I totally butchered this genre._

...

**Dirty Harry**

"There's no life out here. This whole planet's empty. A wasteland." Naruto scoffs, throwing a small rock against the wall. It barely does enough to make a scratch. "We crash-landed in a dump."

"We're in a cave in the middle of the desert."

"No fucking kidding."

"Hm."

"...hey, Itachi."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for back there. You know. Saving me and all. I really thought I'd—"

"You know you don't have to thank me for that. For now, you're safe. That's what's important."

"And what about Sasuke? He's still out there somewhere, not with us because of me, but I'm the one who was supposed to look after him. I'm the one who's supposed to—"

Naruto sniffs, wiping at one eye with the back of his hand, cursing at the specks of sand caught between his fingers that make his vision blurry.

"Wasting his energy over something so small when he knows I can take care of myself. I didn't need—" Gritting his teeth, he snarls, pointedly looking away from his forearm that had been a mangled and bloodied mess not but a few hours before. "The nerve of that stupid asshole. He knows I heal fast. I could've taken out that overgrown scorpion on my own. He didn't have to—"

"The dunemite's stinger went straight through your arm. After your body began to convulse, you lost consciousness because you'd lost too much blood. You were trapped in the ship. By the time I was able to reach you, the venom would have killed you if the blood loss didn't. Even with your enhanced healing, there was very little chance you would have survived had Sasuke not used his magic."

Lips drawn in a tight line, Naruto doesn't answer, head turned away from Itachi's hard stare, eyes trained on the ridiculously tiny fire dividing the two of them.

"He placed his life in danger to save yours. The least you can do is respect his decision."

Naruto bites back the urge to say any more about it, ignoring the quiet reprimand in Itachi's tone, because while his best friend is missing out there, so is Itachi's brother, and the fact that Sasuke isn't with them is taking a toll on Itachi, too, even if Itachi doesn't necessarily show it.

But it's not that he doesn't respect Sasuke's decision. He gets how seriously injured he was, the fact that he wouldn't have made it if Sasuke hadn't passed on his own life force into him to keep him alive. Doesn't mean he has to like it, though. "Who were those guys chasing after us, anyway?"

"I'm afraid I can't say. Though they flew unmarked, I wouldn't immediately dismiss any possible association with the Federation. With the tension already between us, our relationship has become very tenuous at best. I wouldn't be surprised if someone finally did decide to act on their vendetta against the Alliance."

Crossing his legs with a grunt, Naruto looks to Itachi, eyebrows scrunched in thought. "Trail leading back to Orochimaru, you think?"

"I can't be sure. Not unless we find the remains of the other ship, but Orochimaru's intentions behind the proposed treaties have been questionable."

"Yeah, right. All the political visitations he's suddenly been making lately, that's putting it nicely. Saying you could bear with him for the sake of negotiations that keep falling through is just pussyfooting around the huge pink elephant in the room. Or cave, I guess. In this case." Grim features pulled taut, Naruto grips his knee resting beneath his palm, voice darkening. "...I don't like him, Itachi."

"The feeling's mutual."

"I mean, what Sasuke can do, that's not so much of a secret anymore. But that guy's too obvious interest in Sasuke, the way he looks at Sasuke sometimes, like he's just itching to slowly take him apart piece by piece to see what makes him tick, I _hate_ that about him.

"Every time me and Sasuke are forced to go to those so-called peace talks, I can't stand it. I hate the fact I can't do anything about it. No matter how much just being in the same room as him gives me the chills. Even Sakura's creeped out by that snake. And Sakura's not creeped out by anything. Hell, she's one of the few people who actually has the balls to stand up to you."

"Lieutenant Haruno," Itachi automatically corrects, emphasising the importance of acknowledging rank Naruto seems to immediately disregard whenever it comes to the people he's close to, his elders especially, Itachi not excluded. "Orochimaru's too closely linked with the Federation to risk losing his standing in the political melee. Not while he's still struggling to regain the favour he's lost after the disaster with Tollan. No, he's too self-seeking to push his agenda publically. I'm more worried about Danzou."

"Danzou? That way too old captain who everybody says should've kicked the bucket years ago? He's against the Federation. What about him's got you so worked up?"

"There's been too much movement within the Alliance lately. Too many changing of hands, too much passing off on responsibility to new blood suddenly qualified to retain high positions. Until three days ago, Danzou was on the verge of retirement. Since then, there's been an impromptu shift of power the moment he announced his bid for sovereign."

"But we don't have one." Naruto frowns. "Military wise, the way our government works, as far as leaders go, maybe my dad's probably the closest thing we'll ever get to having an actual sovereign, which really isn't saying much, but the Sectors in the Alliance are independent. That's what makes us so different from the Federation. We're a democracy. We don't have one ruler."

"Not yet."

Naruto shivers at the almost certainty in those two words. "...are things really that bad?"

"Danzou's managed to gather a large influx of supporters. The situation isn't so dire at this point, but his reach continues to extend far. It won't be much longer until he's in a position to tip the scales."

"But everybody knows that guy's a complete nut job. He wants to take over the Federation, Itachi. Preaching all that nonsense about how the people on the Other Side are lower than us, he wants a full-on _war_."

"As do a growing number of vigilantes in the Alliance tired of futile peace negotiations. I hadn't intended to involve you and Sasuke in any of this so soon, but it seems I've been left with no choice."

Running a hand through his hair, Itachi gives a bleak sort of half smile, a crack in his normally composed expression that used to make Naruto and Sasuke believe Itachi would always be invincible. The light from the fire makes him look painfully weary, though, the dark lines beneath his eyes suddenly more prominent in the stillness of the cave. "I only wish I hadn't failed to prepare you two better."

Naruto sighs, letting his shoulders sag a little. "Well, I can't say being shot down by space pirates was something I expected to look forward to this morning, but being stuck here with you, worse things have happened."

Posture straight, the poor attempt at a smile falls from Itachi's face, and suddenly, the indifferent mask is back. "While I doubt they were meant to put either you or Sasuke in harm's way, disposing of me is a different matter entirely, but I don't trust the convenience of the attack. Particularly what Danzou has to gain from my disappearance and the risk of him exploiting my absence for his own propaganda. I don't trust him."

"You're a paranoid guy. You don't trust anybody."

"I trust you."

Naruto fumbles for something to say, nearly bowled over by the significance of such a seemingly simple admission Itachi didn't hesitate to make. "Itachi, I..."

"Whatever my initial reservations concerning your relationship with Sasuke, my misgivings about Danzou's ambitions are far greater. It seems he's taken a liking to you."

"Me? Why would he—" Eyes slightly wide, Naruto leans forward, chewing at the corner of his lip, tentative gaze never leaving Itachi's. "Does he know about—"

"No. He's been curious, though. Filling a decent amount of retrieval requests for your records. Because he's doing it through the official channels, it's nothing presumably suspicious, yet there's little basis I can discern for his sudden interest in you."

"I know I used to get in trouble a lot for pranking people and stuff, but I can't have that much of a record. I just got accepted into the Academy last year."

"Being Namikaze Minato's son, you shouldn't be surprised by how many people follow your progress. As well, despite your age, you can't discount your extensive flying experience prior to the Academy. Apart from the more abstract concepts you still need to learn, as far as your tactical skills and aptitude for piloting are concerned, you have the potential to be the top rookie in your class."

Naruto scoffs. "Only because Sasuke's not in the Academy with me. We really could've been amazing together out there, you know. Something real special up there in the stars. Give everybody else who pretends they know how to fly a real run for their money."

Again, he scoffs, fingers toying with the squared guard of the sword Sasuke left behind lying on the ground beside him, the curved, single-edged blade still stained with the blood from the dunemite Sasuke killed. "But my sheer awesomeness aside, if Danzou _is_ interested, the fact that I'm almost as good of a fighter pilot as my dad can't be the only reason he's after me."

"No, but your father and mother have pulled many strings to ensure few people know about you as possible. Our family, as well. We've all done our best for both your sake and Sasuke's. Sasuke's abilities we couldn't keep hidden, but the burden you've endured yourself to carry..."

"Not to mention Sasuke's connection to it. If anyone outside our families knew that he could manipulate—"

"That," Itachi says, frighteningly calm, near ominous, "I won't allow to happen."

Letting go of Sasuke's sword, hands fallen in his lap clasped together then pulled apart, Naruto gives a slow nod, reassured by the quiet intensity in Itachi's voice, because he doesn't want to question an assurance they both know Itachi wouldn't be able to keep forever, because it's easier to pretend he and Sasuke are five again, and being told they were special just meant they were lucky enough to have someone as cool as Itachi looking out for them.

Not because Sasuke had the rarest form of magic imaginable and Naruto had a powerful ancient demon that fought in the First Great War sealed inside of him.

Fingers curled into his palms, he presses his thumbs against throbbing knuckles. "I can fight with my fists, but Sasuke doesn't even have his sword. Being out there alone, with no way to make contact, when we're stranded in uncharted territory in a desert that spans for who knows how long, and he—"

"Can be incredibly resourceful. You know this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. I know he can handle himself. He's handed me my ass more times than I can count just to make sure I don't forget, but it's just—why aren't you blaming me? I thought for sure you'd be mad at me. If my foot hadn't got stuck under the seat, if Sasuke hadn't tried to save me..."

"Being separated, yes, the circumstances are far from agreeable. The consequences of Sasuke's actions...rather than himself, he chose to protect you. He's always been reckless, too negligent with his wellbeing for anyone's sanity, much less my own, but he wanted to protect you, Naruto. I won't—I _can't_ fault you for that.

"If anything, I fault myself for allowing you to be in this situation at all. I couldn't bear to lose either of you."

Blinking away the slight sting behind his eyes, with a hollow laugh, Naruto looks up, tracing the shadows from the flames dancing along the ceiling of the cave. "Heh. So I get to be Naruto again, huh?"

"Like Sasuke says, you'll always be Naruto."

Lowering his gaze, Naruto gives Itachi a cheeky grin. "What about Sasuke's boyfriend? Can I always be that, too?"

Itachi lets out a soft snort. "Don't push your luck, Uzumaki."

"And now it's back to Uzumaki." Still grinning, Naruto pulls at a loose thread from his pants, unravelling the stitching near the outside of his knee. "...for such a sudden show of acceptance, you do remember you almost killed me last month, right. Almost took my head clean off, among other things, so...yeah. Just to throw that out there. Because you like to opportunely forget things at certain times."

"Discovering my little brother has been having an illicit affair with a sordid pilot eight months his senior, my reaction couldn't be helped."

Naruto nearly chokes on a squeak. "First off, there is nothing sordid about me. And we don't have an illicit relationship. We're both sixteen. Or well, okay, yeah, I'll been seventeen in a couple more weeks, but it's perfectly leg—"

"However, I will say this."

"...yeah?"

"Make one false move, Uzumaki, and I won't hesitate to give Sasuke the opportunity to never speak to me again."

"Somehow, that, um, with the way you're not really smiling at me right now, that sort of sounds like some kind of thinly veiled threat."

"It is."

"There're horror stories about you floating around the base, you know. Sakura's told me some, about the trainees under your command when you were Chief. She said the time she spent with you being her mentor was straight up pure _hell_. Even someone like Kakashi knows better than to mess with you."

"You've committed yourself to being the exception to the rule evidently."

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't really count with us." Sitting up a little from his place leaned against the wall, Naruto scratches the back of his head, grimacing as his fingers stop at the knotted strands of hair clumped together by traces of dried blood. "I've been around you like forever. My entire life. So I know if you dig down inside you, somewhere really, really deep down there, like way down in there beyond all the Admiral Uchiha stuff, you're pretty much a big softie."

A dark eyebrow is raised. "I wouldn't consider myself a pushover."

"Maybe not a complete softie but something close enough to being that. The same way Sasuke contradicts himself more than half the time, when he does the things he says he's not going to do but still ends up doing anyway, because there's some kind of biological tick that prevents him from being able to express his feelings like normal people."

"I can't account for Sasuke's personality, but regarding your belief that I'm a supposed softie, you haven't had the pleasure of being one of my trainees."

"Which I am very grateful for." Gingerly, with a slight wince, Naruto uncrosses both legs, not able to fully extend them because the cave is just that small but still able to get in something close to a stretch. "Extremely grateful for, since that same pleasure will now never have a chance to be had."

"Admittedly, on occasion, I have been told my disciplinary methods can be rather...inspired."

"Yeah, and that insane simulation program mandatory to pass to basic flight training, when Sasuke told me you're the one who coded that, it's no wonder why the graduating class is always so small. Most people have to repeat that whole course year at least twice."

"You passed it on the first attempt."

"Hell yeah, I did. And it was crazy hard, too. Almost impossible." Naruto's grin grows wider at the slight twitch almost bringing a genuine smile to Itachi's lips. "But two years back, Sasuke coded a mock version of Tsukuyomi, and we used to sneak in the training deck and upload his programme to see who could get the best time. He's still ahead of me by five seconds, but I already told him I was going beat him one day. If only it wasn't for that stupid law that keeps him from signing up for the Academy."

"It's for his own protection, as well as for the people around him."

"Yeah, I get that, accidentally Influencing people, not being able to fully control that part of his magic yet, especially since it can go haywire sometimes, but just because he happens to be who he is, doesn't mean it's fair to keep him from doing something he's really good at."

Itachi makes a low noise, a not quite hum that could be taken to mean either agreement or indifference. "I suppose your relationship hasn't changed that much."

"I don't think it has. Or at least it doesn't feel like it's changed a lot. Except for the seriously incredible mind-blowing se—I mean, uh, yeah," Naruto stammers, cutting himself off at Itachi's sharp expression that instantly reminds him it's Itachi he's talking to. Itachi, not someone like Kiba or Shikamaru or any other of his friends from the Academy, because even though they're really close, Itachi is still Sasuke's older brother, and there are just some things that aren't supposed to be done with Itachi.

One of them is going around talking about his and Sasuke's sex life.

Or recently lack thereof, he should say, ever since Itachi caught him sneaking through the window into Sasuke's room carrying a full bag of condoms, which led to Itachi trying to kill him, which then led to that highly embarrassing involuntary confession about the first time he and Sasuke almost had sex and Sasuke accidently nearly bled his life force dry but just as soon brought him back to life and on the brink of what could've been one of the most amazing orgasms _ever_ by way of the life force Sasuke transferred to him through a kiss—he's still going to call it sex magic, no matter how many times Sasuke says it isn't.

"Not at all. Things between us are the same they've always been. I still call him a bastard. He still calls me an idiot. I guess dating's gotten us a little closer, now that we have that kind of relationship, but we're still just Naruto and Sasuke, you know."

"In the near future, that same relationship may well be composed solely of Sasuke and his memory of you."

"You'd seriously risk Sasuke never speaking to you ever again just to get rid of me?"

"If it entails Sasuke coping with you being on the receiving end of an unfortunate accident coinciding with the explosion of your ship in midflight brought down by friendly fire unwittingly obscured beneath the pretext of enemy fire, I'm confident he has the capacity to get over it."

Although he already knows Itachi has a very dark, almost wicked sense of humour, that a large part of him definitely knows Itachi would never really orchestrate that whole too highly well thought out scenario just to keep him from being with Sasuke, never mind Itachi's peaceful expression and utterly calm delivery when he says these types of things, Naruto still can't help it when his eyes bulge just a little. "...that isn't the most comforting thing to say to the person you practically helped raise and are still extremely close to."

"It's not supposed to be."

Shoulders starting to shake, Naruto tries and fails to keep in a snort, letting loose the heavy laughter bubbling within his chest, eyes bright, tinged with a smidgen of hysteria it takes too much effort to hold back, because all he can think about right now is how much Sasuke takes after his unapologetic brother, how much Sasuke acts _just_ like Itachi, and damn it if he wouldn't give anything to know that Sasuke's _okay_.

Eventually, the laughter subsides, though, the brief note of not so happy calm broken by another overwrought silence despite Itachi's second attempt at a smile too worn-out that only manages to make him look even more tired than Naruto already feels.

"It feels like we've been sitting in this cave since the beginning of time. My back hurts. My legs are too numb to move anymore. I think I'm forgetting how to use my arms. Every second I spend cooped up in here is another second I could be using to look for Sasuke out there, and I just feel so useless not being able to—"

"Get some rest, Naruto. We'll find Sasuke tomorrow. The temperature's dropped too low to go searching tonight, and you're in no condition to do anything other than sleep."

"I know, but..." Naruto trails off with a heavy sigh, biting his lip to rein in the angry frustration Itachi doesn't deserve to be an outlet for. It's useless to argue with him, anyway.

"It'll be fine. I'll be here when you wake up."

Uncomfortable, reluctantly, Naruto tries to settle against the hard wall with too many jagged edges digging into this back. He closes his eyes, gradually lulled to sleep by the intermittent crackling of the fire already starting to die down.

...

"I was told it wasn't devised to be released."

"If it was put on you, I don't see why it can't be taken off." Sasuke's mouth curves into a near frown, fingers of his left hand methodically searching the metal collar for any potential weak points. "I've never seen anything like this before, though. I wonder if—"

Flinching from a short burst of pain, he recoils from the unexpected impulse of magic, landing on his backside hard against the floor. "The hell kind of collar is this?"

"Are you—"

"It's nothing," Sasuke grits out, fingers holding the wrist of his left hand nursed against his chest as he forces himself to sit up. Instinctively, he allows a trickle of magic to flow to his hands, not too much, but just enough that he's able to ignore the lingering sting prickling the tips of his fingers.

"Please be careful, Shiva."

"Don't call me that." With a grunt, Sasuke narrows his eyes. He breathes in and places both hands on the collar this time, gently laying his fingers over the heavily bruised skin beneath it as he breathes out. "I'm no different than you. Being able to use magic doesn't make me any more important."

"It's an acknowledgement of respect. Those who could be called Shiva were rare in my village. To wield magic is a precious gift. But to be in the presence of an Amala—"

"They're just words, Juugo," Sasuke says, holding back his irritation, lips pursed at the near veneration in Juugo's voice. Whatever the nuances behind Shiva and Amala are supposed to be, he doesn't mean to take offense, not when Juugo makes the words seem like such an innocuous gesture, but he's tired of people constantly reducing him to his ability to use magic and revering him for something more trouble than it's worth. "Useless titles like that don't mean a damn thing."

"If removing the collar is of no use, I've learned to endure it." There's a subtle panic in Juugo's eyes, underlying an unease already there that makes him look torn between letting Sasuke help him and grabbing Sasuke's arm to haul him away from the collar. "I'm able to live despite this curse."

"I already told you. Everything's fine. It's fine, just...just hold still for me a little longer, all right." Sasuke doesn't really know how to disengage the collar, but he does have an idea that, in theory, seemed like it should work.

Crafting a loophole of sorts, he's going to try to redirect Juugo's life force to prevent it from reaching collar, creating a blockade using the metal of the collar itself. This based on the assumption it was Juugo's life force powering whatever internal mechanism that was keeping the collar intact, since trying to remove it without magic only resulted in the collar becoming tighter. His only stipulation is being able to pull the whole thing off while keeping Juugo from suspecting he was a life user. Unless they were users themselves, most people weren't sensitive to the majority of the magic surrounding them, yet even the most insensate person would be aware of someone tampering with their life force.

Passing as a metal elemental he could get away with. At least he didn't deny it when Juugo asked if he was one, which is he is, in a roundabout way. As a life user, simply drawing from his own energy or the energy around him, he has the ability to manipulate any kind of magic. He doesn't exactly go around parading that particular ability, taught to intrinsically refrain from using it; the pervading spread of misinformation about life magic convinced most to assume life users could only focus on the energies of the people within immediate distance, and his family—even Kushina and Minato to a noteworthy extent—could never stress enough how important it was to allow that obsolete school of thought to prevail.

But Juugo had taken him in last night, found him unconscious after being swept away from the storm that had separated him from his brother and Naruto, humbly offered this poor excuse for shelter and what little food he had when he could've simply left him to die instead. The least he could do is try to repay Juugo with a chance at freedom from the collar keeping him bound to this makeshift prison in the middle of the desert.

"It may hurt at first," he says, remembering vividly the eager, hopeful light in Juugo's eyes when he proposed getting rid of the collar, "probably feel like you won't be able to breathe, so be ready for that, but give me a few, uh, give me a few more seconds."

Quiet, Juugo does as he's told, sitting on his knees, hunched forward and head lowered, eerily still with the exception of the measured rise and fall of his shoulders.

Much stronger than before, a sharp pain assaults him between his eyes, the strain from the collar trying to deflect his magic, and Sasuke sucks in a harsh breath, determined to push through despite the pounding in his head and his vision bleary continuing to darken.

An unpleasant feeling begins to crawl over him. While he's never encountered this kind of magic before, the initial sensation isn't too dissimilar from his brother's shadow magic, the balm of magic that's run in their family for generations, yet this magic is a cruel perversion of Itachi's enveloping warmth that had always swathed him comforting and familiar, becomes a decaying sensation that seeps through his skin, coursing through his veins, festering inside his body an invisible, almost sentient mass that threatens to take him under, threatens to submerge him in absolute darkness, and it bodes within him an overwhelming trepidation he can't immediately shake off.

After a moment, following what couldn't possibly be more or three or four seconds stretched far too long, the collar unlocks with a sharp hiss, and he lets out a soft gasp. He feels his body pitch forward into Juugo, head fallen against Juugo's chest, eyes shut tight against the inadvertent absorption of the residual backlash from the magic used to forge the collar.

Shallow breaths come in succession too fast. His mind feels too dull to move his body, but he can feel Juugo snatch the collar clutched in his hands, a single heave to wrench it from his grasp almost against his will unable to let go.

The decaying sensation finally begins to recede, but when Sasuke's eyes open they grow too wide, the white clouding his vision nearly blinding, and he bites down on the inside of his cheek to muffle a silent scream at the unfamiliar magic searing his palms, an unmitigated pulsation piercing through his skull.

Chest heaving, he watches the collar shatter, Juugo easily crushing it into tiny little pieces of metal scattered among dust and tossing the remains in the corner of the diminutive cell.

Eyesight hazy, body heavy and numb, vaguely, he registers the far away litany of _SasukeSasukeSasuke_. The gentle tone of Juugo's voice snaps him out of his stupor. It takes a moment for awareness to set in, and he blinks, giving himself a little more time to get a hold of his bearings.

Knees taking the brunt of his weight, abrupt, he pushes himself away from Juugo. He staggers a little, nearly stumbles over, but regains his balance before he can fall, overly cautious taking a seat on the uneven surface of the floor that doesn't cushion his wobbly landing.

"...Sasuke?"

"I..."

"Are you unharmed?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"Your eyes, they're still glow—"

"I'm fine." Swallowing hard, Sasuke closes his eyes then forces them to stay open, willing away the fog in his mind still making it difficult to see. Following a slow inhale, he exhales, pauses and repeats, giving his lungs a chance to adjust to the steady supply of air. He almost starts at the feel of large fingers gently wrapped around his arm, and only then does he realise he's actually shaking. "I'll be fine. I'll be...I'm fine."

Juugo studies him carefully, the disbelief evident beneath the concern marring his face, an obvious worry reflected in the depths of red eyes that seem to stare right through him, but he seems content to accept Sasuke's word for now, not making an attempt to press further as he releases Sasuke's arm. "I...thank you, Sasuke." He releases a heavy sigh, long and drawn-out, as if a literal weight's been taken off his shoulders. "Thank you."

Trying to appear nonchalant, Sasuke shrugs off the gratitude. Freeing Juugo from the collar took more out of him than he'd anticipated. Using his magic had exerted him more than he's willing to admit. However, he'd never come across magic like that before, nothing so...sinister, which is especially disconcerting considering the nature of magic itself has nothing do with how a person chooses to use it.

Magic isn't innately good or bad. It just _is_.

Yet there was something off about the magic lining the collar. Almost primitive, it felt inherently disturbing, noisome in the way it tried to latch onto his own magic in an attempt to consume him.

Although it'd probably be a good idea to examine the collar, to learn just how it affected his magic in the event he had to deal with something similar in the future, he's in no hurry to complain about Juugo destroying it.

"As much as I appreciate the hospitality, staying here isn't going to cut it much longer. Our best bet is to try to rendezvous with the people who came with me," he says, unable to suppress a violent shudder as he picks up his communicator lying idle on the floor. The inside teeming with sand, dark screen cracked, the visible wires shorted out or torn, a missing transmitter the one piece he really did need, there's no point in trying to make use of a communicator beyond repair, so he doesn't, setting it back on the floor.

He has no reason not to believe Itachi and Naruto managed to escape the storm together, won't even let himself entertain the very possibility of that thought, but with no way to contact either of them, it was probably more favourable to wait for them to find him, in order not to hazard running circles around each other in a backdrop of seemingly endless sand. At least until it was a little cooler outside.

Not to mention, he still needs some time to decide what to do with Juugo. Leaving him here is out of the question. It isn't even an option, but it's a given he was going to have one hell of a time trying to convince his brother to allow Juugo to come with them.

"Hopefully the storm didn't pit us too far away from each other. It's already morning now, so..." He looks around the place Juugo calls home, surveying the small cell only one in an extensive network of cells composing the prison.

The area horrendously cramped for someone of Juugo's size, he makes note of the clear lack of supplies barely enough to last Juugo for another day, much less the two of them, the stark absence of any personal belongings or true comforts, save for the battered old quilt wrought with holes Juugo took care to bundle him in last night—busying himself with any minute detail to help take his mind off how much the collar had affected him.

"Tell me more about Barrah."

"What would you like to hear?"

"Anything. I've never heard of it before." And Sasuke hadn't. Until now, as far as he knew, this place didn't even exist. Trying to shake off the ship pursuing them, looking for somewhere to land, he, Itachi, and Naruto stumbled upon the small planet by chance. Yet Barrah wasn't charted on any of their ship's maps equipped from the navigation libraries, which are pretty extensive considering the fact they traced back all known explorations held within the last millennia. "Discovering it now, it's...strange."

Amused, Juugo tilts his head a little, wearing an unassuming smile, with a crinkling around the outside of his eyes that makes him look older than Sasuke initially pegged him to be. Much older. Maybe even more so than his parents. "What remains unseen doesn't become untrue."

Sasuke snorts, pulling Itachi's jacket closer around his body. Answering with that kind of ambiguity, it sounded like something his brother would probably say. "I take it you've never left, then. Being so isolated from the rest of this Sector."

Juugo gives an absent nod, almost wistful. "Barrah has always been what I've called home. Yet my home has not always been how you see it before you now." He looks up, eyebrows knit together in thought, a slight frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. "The sand covering Barrah stretches for days upon end, but my home was once a paradise. My people were once free."

He looks down, broad shoulders bunched, doing the impossible of making his nearly three-metre frame look smaller. His voice begins to trail off, gaze distant tinged with an almost palpable nostalgia. "...though memory tends to escape me, there was a time when I was not the last of my kind."

Propped against the wall, Sasuke folds his legs, ignoring the marked sensation of cold from the sterile tile smooth beneath his back despite his jacket. "What changed?"

"One night, I was awoken by dreadful screams. The sounds of painful cries were heralds of death as flames engulfed my village. Men who hid behind masks dragged me from my bed as they continued to raze my village to the ground. My people and I were marched across the desert for three days and four nights, taken beneath the sand and held inside a labyrinth of metallic stone chambers where we waited to be either enslaved for labour or placed at the mercy of the Snake Charmer and his experiments."

Following a shuddering breath, Juugo pauses, raising his gaze to stare at the thick metal bars straight ahead. Fingers flexed, his hands clench into fists held still over his lap. There's a glimmer of yellow in his eyes, merely a trace of the other side of him Sasuke only caught a brief glimpse of earlier this morning.

Softly, he breathes out, fingers unfurling as the tension immediately leaves his body, the transitory spell of anger gone just as quickly as it had come.

"When they'd no longer found use of us," he says, "the Masked Men left us little food and water. Left us alone to die shackled to stone walls, confined by their magic in the collars that didn't allow us to leave. Over time, I became the sole survivor of my village. Of my people. But for me, the Barrah I'd always known had been forsaken."

Sasuke shifts, arms wrapped around his torso, fingers gripping the sides of his jacket for warmth. "...why didn't you fight back?"

"Apart from the elders in my village, I was often shunned by those who did not understand my turmoil." Juugo manages a disparaging smile. "But despite the anger that rages inside me, the teachings of my people advocate against violence. And never before had there been a reason to fear anyone who came to Barrah."

"But people like that..."

"They had powerful weapons where we could offer no physical defence. Their technology was more advanced than anything we'd ever been introduced to and vastly overwhelmed the few magic users who attempted to liberate our people. In this prison beneath the sand is where I've been held captive for years too many to remember. Too many years I've remained here forgotten."

Head turned away, Sasuke stares at the white wall bleak beyond the cell's gate wide open. He licks chapped lips and swallows, then raises his head to meet Juugo's calm gaze. "I'm sorry."

He knows it won't give any real comfort, knows all too well such a vacant sentiment won't do anything to change what's already been done, but regardless of how meagre, it's the only thing he has to offer.

Juugo gives a slight shake of his head, mouth slowly curving into a smile. "Please don't be. I've made peace with my past."

"Even with the ones who did this to you?"

"Yes. The people of Barrah have always been of a peaceful nature. It's not our way to harbour ill will towards others, and we hold immense pride over the strength in our beliefs. Despite such misfortune, revenge won't bring my people back. Revenge won't return to me the life I once lived. Yet while the Snake Charmer continues to roam the Unreachable Sky, my only hope is that he forces no one else to suffer the fate I have."

"When you say Snake Charmer, did he go by another name?"

"He called himself Orochimaru."

On some level, hearing the name surprises Sasuke. At the same time, though, it doesn't. Few people he knows don't have lingering suspicions about him. _Unctuous_, his mom once called Orochimaru, the first time Sasuke met him three years ago, when he and Naruto travelled with their parents to that failed peace summit held on Nublar III.

It was supposed to be a show of good faith at the time, proposed by some of the Federation's higher-ups, this idea of inviting Naruto and him to the first attempt at a peace treaty between the Federation and the Alliance in over two decades.

His dad being Commander-in-Chief and his mom, who'd, at the time, just won re-election for a seat in the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce; then Minato being Head of State and Kushina serving as an unofficial Sector ambassador, coinciding with her position in the Cabinet's Foreign Affairs Ministry for the oversight of trade policy—with their parents' staunch political ambit and how close their families actually are to one another, by all outward appearances, the Federation's proposal didn't seem to be too much of a stretch.

However, since that first summit, he's been far from appreciative of the less than subtle glances Orochimaru's occasionally sent his way, the disturbing interest in his life magic, how many times Orochimaru tried to corner him during the recesses of those first few summits, the number of times he tried to initiate conversation with him outside the summits, and he hated the unremitting feeling of being exposed, of feeling susceptible to the blatant intent behind those eyes that always seemed to be watching him.

It was because of Orochimaru, or rather the notion of people like him, that his parents decided to impose on him Neji and Sai, to keep a closer eye on his wellbeing, they claimed, whenever neither of them nor Itachi couldn't; it didn't help that his brother handpicked them himself and then tried to convince him that being given his own security detail was a perfectly suitable birthday present for a thirteen year old.

Loud and annoying like he seldom isn't, never mind him being the one who's always insisted on staying close together at the summits, of course Naruto laughed about the whole thing.

Until he was effectively put out of his misery by a solid smack upside the head.

"You've heard of the Snake Charmer?" Juugo says, more of a statement than a question.

"Unfortunately." Hands disappearing beneath the cuffs of jacket sleeves too long for his arms, Sasuke does all but curb a slight grimace.

Still, despite how unnerving it is to be the subject of Orochimaru's overt fascination, if this Snake Charmer is the same Orochimaru he knows, scientist or not, being such a high ranking commissioner in the Federation, for Orochimaru to be capable of committing what basically amounts to the genocide of Juugo's people, it's not a crime he'd immediately associate with him.

Genocide's practically unheard of now, even with the ongoing feud between the Alliance and the Federation. The last known record of genocide occurred after the First Great War, eight hundred- some odd years ago during the Second Great War. For the most part, the causalities were magic users; save for the pocket number who were lucky enough to find refuge, as a whole, people like him were nearly driven to extinction. Following the aftermath of the Second Great War, however, intergalactic protocols were established to prevent it from happening again.

"I believe he wished to study my people's sensitivity to different forms of magic," Juugo says, abruptly breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts. "Despite the measures taken, his true goal was to understand our ability to see magical auras."

Dark eyebrows rise in surprise. While Sasuke will readily admit he's been sheltered for the majority of his life, whatever magic doctrine he's been permitted to study restricted to what he's learned through classes and read about from the Principal Data Hub, or what he's been able to learn from other magic users, determining another person's magic affinity, the technology for it exists, of course, but doing so with magic, he can't honestly say he's heard of anything like it.

His own magic gives him a sort of sixth sense. He's always highly perceptive of people's emotions, making him a kind of empath, like Neji's cousin Hinata more or less, but he usually attributes his empathy to being a life user and his indiscriminate tendency to Influence people. Although the latter's never been intentional, mostly a side effect of simply having life magic, because there really isn't that much information about life magic to suggest otherwise, inducing feelings of euphoria does make it easier to accidentally sway people when he's not paying too close attention.

Or, as one of the Academy students he met through Kiba, Ino, so eloquently once put it, if he wasn't more careful, that part of his magic could end up making someone delirious enough to jump off the Tomosada Bridge wearing the stupidest, most ridiculously inane looking smile on their face even after they hit the ground.

"Being able to see auras," he says, leaning forward a little closer, "is that an ability all magic users have, or is it specific to your people?"

"I'm not certain, but the earliest tales of my people, long before even the time of my birth, the old stories passed along to Mahatma say that when the Faceless first came many eons ago, he created a magical barrier around Barrah. It served to protect those on Barrah from the Outside. Yet as a consequence, the barrier greatly diminished the magic of the Faceless. This held true for the magic of my ancestors, as well."

"So the atmosphere here, is that why it feels..." Sasuke almost frowns, trying to find the right word. He noticed it the moment he woke up this morning. Oppressive, he wants to say, but it isn't that being here has taken away his ability to use magic. It's only somewhat hindered the natural ease of access he's accustomed that he's been told fairly often he takes for granted.

Although if there has been some kind containment shield protecting Barrah for however long, it lends more credence to the anomaly of how Barrah's existence had managed to slip under the radar, especially since it lies in the outer rim of highly disputed territory that's been fought over by the Alliance and the Federation for the last twenty years.

It still doesn't explain how Orochimaru managed to get through, though.

"Since the time of my ancestors," Juugo says, "we've learned to adapt more passive forms of magic. Very few of my people were blessed with magic beyond the gift of this sight. We called them Shiva. Our inability to use higher forms of magic was the sacrifice my ancestors offered to the Faceless in return for the barrier protecting Barrah, but your life magic—"

"I never said I wasn't a metal elemental." The air around him stills, and Sasuke narrows his eyes, covered knuckles of his left hand pressing hard into the floor, fingers itching to grab the sword he doesn't have.

Putting himself on the defensive, it's a reflex. For as long as he can remember, countless times he's been told not to tell, until this throat felt parched and his tongue dry made to promise over and over again to keep his life magic a secret no one else could ever know.

Even though there's nothing to say Juugo has any adverse intentions towards him, in hindsight, he also realises it was still a risk to free from Juugo from the collar that, for all intents and purposes, may have been there for a pretty damn good reason.

And it was a stupid risk. A stupidly irresponsible risk because he knows he's not home. He's alone. Stranded in some abandoned prison buried beneath the desert of a planet he's never even heard of until today. He's not back at the base that became his haven, where the knowledge of him being able to use life magic is something the minority who do know are decidedly those who'd never attempt to take advantage of him.

"What makes you think I'm a life user?"

"Your natural affinity for magic is already exceedingly strong," Juugo says, soothing, almost as he's attempting to appease the fears of a child. "But as a wielder of life magic, you have a distinctive aura. There is a clear light that surrounds you. It's an extraordinary light that hasn't been heard of among my people for a hundred years."

"You already knew what I was."

"Not what you are, Sasuke." At this, Juugo gives him a modest smile, earnest and not unkind, but Sasuke levels him with a wary gaze. "Who you are."

His magic's always been a touchy subject, but if Juugo's known all this time, there's nothing Sasuke can really do about it now. Juugo hasn't done anything about it, and the sincerity bleeding through red eyes makes him highly doubt Juugo will.

With a sigh, he flexes his fingers, relaxing his hand, letting the oversized cuff trapped against his palm fall to his wrist. Sparing a quick glance to Juugo's neck, he lets out a derisive snort, for the first time noticing the fading bruise where the collar had been, the severe contusion no longer a darkened ring circling Juugo's neck. The damaged skin isn't fully healed, but the difference is apparent enough.

The upshot of a subconscious pull, he hadn't even realised what he was doing, not while he was wrestling with the backlash from the collar's magic, but he should've known. The next time he finds himself in this kind of situation, he can't afford not to know.

"Did you read my aura before or after I started to heal you?"

"Even within the recesses of these stone walls, I was drawn to the bright light surrounding you. During the calm of the storm, it led me outside, where I discovered you lying in the sand."

"...oh." Sasuke falters, again picking up the broken communicator lying beside him, the insubstantial weight lingering in his hand, teetering on the edge of his palm before he sets it down. "So it's not something I've could have hid from you. Whether I wanted to or not."

"As you are now, no, but I'm glad to have found you. Meeting you has granted me an opportunity towards inner peace I'd once resigned myself to believe would always be out of reach. Your mere presence calms the fury that burns within me."

Pursing his lips, Sasuke shifts against the wall, gripping the cuff of his sleeve to quell a growing discomfort. Juugo's been trapped down here wearing that collar for who knows how long. After experiencing that kind of physical and psychological trauma, it's understandable that he'd develop a rapid attachment to the first person he's presumably met in years.

But it's the repeat display of that same kind of veneration from earlier, the esteem mistaking him for something he's not that makes him uneasy and eager to dismiss Juugo's expression. "There's nothing special about me to warrant having that kind of effect on you."

"My anger made me unusual among my kind. Though I was not always feared, from a young age I realised the worth of neither being seen nor heard. But for the love of my father, I was a pariah in our village, through the eyes of my people eternally damned to a rage that nearly consumed me as a child. Yet you're one of the few who..."

Waking up in a cold cell disoriented and sore, opening his eyes to be met with Juugo's face hovering too close looming over him, Sasuke can admit the circumstances weren't encouraging.

The last thing he could pull from memory was Itachi taking over the controls, the harness too tight across his chest securing him to his seat, bracing himself in that one terse moment of complete and utter silence right before the impact, the acrid wail from the metal buckling around them, the sand lashing at his face, echoes of Naruto's screams cutting through the harsh winds a constant ringing in his ears, being tossed in the air and nearly trampled by the second dunemite while Itachi hauled an unconscious Naruto from the ship.

Immediately, he tried to sit up. Movement slightly mired by the tattered quilt covering him, he looked for signs of either his brother or Naruto, but he only found concern from the red-haired stranger who'd laid a large hand on his shoulder.

Despite his imposing figure, even at first glance, there was something serene about Juugo, something that'd put him a little more at ease and helped assuage much of his initial apprehension due to being separated from his brother and Naruto. That, or knowing Naruto for so long really has been detrimental to the self-preservation skills Itachi had so painstakingly tried to instil in him.

"The freedom you've given me, Sasuke, it's a gift I will never be able to fully return in kind."

"You're the one who found me. You don't owe me anything."

"Please allow me the opportunity to try."

Fingers rubbing at his temple, Sasuke sighs, dropping his arm to rest over his knee. "I won't leave you here, Juugo. If we—_when_ we find a way off Barrah, we'll take you to the nearest port with a refuge terminal, fill out some papers, and then get you situated somewhere safe, where you can start a new life."

"I would consider it a privilege to join you on your pilgrimage."

"Pilgrimage to where? As soon as I leave here, I'm going home, and I doubt you'd want to stay hosed up in some training base for the rest of your life."

"Wherever you wish to go, if you'll have me, I will gladly follow."

"Listen, I only took the collar off." The words bring a slight quirk to Sasuke's lips a near frown, but he doesn't let it turn into anything more. "Don't make yourself feel obligated for that. You shouldn't—"

He pauses, narrowing his eyes, body taut at the obscure presence a delicate brush at the corner of his mind, the tendrils faint of an acute sensation not quite strange but neither wholly unrecognisable.

So far, he's come across very few people who've been able to mask their presence from him, namely his brother and his parents, alongside Minato and Kushina, which doesn't mean there aren't others out there, but met with an intentionally muddled energy signature, in this situation, it's worth noting that Itachi is one of those people who have the ability to completely elude him.

Unfolding his legs, he begins to push himself up from the floor, gritting his teeth at the haggard noise from his own laboured breathing. An unexpected vertigo causes him to lurch sideways, but he breaks his would be fall with a hand against the wall that feels too cool beneath his fingers, standing himself upright when he hears Juugo shift behind him.

He placates Juugo with an arm outstretched, motioning for Juugo to stay behind him. "Wait here."

Footfalls resonate through the long corridor, settling in the cell.

Beside him, Juugo stiffens. "I should come with you."

Only vaguely does it register in his mind the arrant difference in height as Juugo towers over him, reminded of the yellow-eyed Juugo who effortlessly tore apart a massive dunemite twice his size with no more than his bare hands that brought him witness to the undercurrents of a tumultuous rage reeling beneath the surface of a docile personality.

He still doesn't move his arm. "It's better if I go."

Not without reluctance, Juugo yields. Sasuke gives a slight nod, a brief flare of shadow magic augmenting already light steps as he makes his way out of the cell.

A bellowed _hello_ is a loud echo in the corridor, louder still the cry of _is anyone in here_ that follows, and the obnoxious voice that reaches his ears causes him to release the magic shrouding him.

The heavy sense of dread that's been gradually accumulating in his chest begins to ebb. Simply knowing that Naruto's okay, knowing that he wasn't powerless to do _something_. Unlike the time he wasn't able to save...

Jaw tight, he continues walking, forcing himself to bury the rehashed memories of Shisui's drowning.

If Naruto's here, Itachi can't be too far behind. He wasn't expecting them to find him so soon, prepared to go searching for them once he figured out where he and Juugo were in relation to the crash site. Most likely, Itachi and Naruto would have gone there first to retrieve any supplies from the ship; locating the ship was his best chance of running into them, with the least risk of getting lost in the desert, assuming the ship itself wasn't too far away from where they'd landed.

Halfway through the corridor, he stops.

Thick jacket draped over his head, peeking into one of the adjoining cells, Naruto steps back with a frustrated sigh, immediately still when he notices him.

From what he can tell, Naruto looks fine, a little worse for wear, some kind of tourniquet fastened around his left arm, face smudged with grime, weary from lack of sleep, but Sasuke suspects he doesn't look that much better.

"_You_ _bastard_." Naruto takes long strides, the jacket over his head forgotten, falling to the wayside as he all but runs to close the distance between them. His hands start to shake, arms forcibly held at his sides, eyes revealing the restraint from an obvious desire to hit him. "I can't believe you—"

Suddenly, he deflates, glare disappearing with the too pronounced slump of his shoulders. "Sasuke, you..."

He swallows hard, reaching out with a hand that doesn't reach lingers, hesitant before he lets it fall back to his side. "But you're..."

Lowering his head, he looks back up, the corners of his mouth pulled into a self-effacing smile that makes him lost, uncharacteristically unsure, as if he's trying to convince himself that Sasuke's really there, arms still held against his sides, fingers against his palms curtail an itch to run his hands all over Sasuke in order to mollify the need to simply _touch_ if only to keep from throwing himself forward and bringing them both crashing to the ground.

"...you're okay." He takes a deep breath, releasing an exhale drawn long. "You're...okay."

"Still doesn't excuse the fact you look like shit," Sasuke says, allowing a small smile to slip through.

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto grins back, broad and unwavering, quickly falling into an ease overlaying the relief in his eyes as he gives Sasuke a light punch on the shoulder. "You try being stuck in a cave with your brother all night and see if you don't look like shit the next day."

With a low hum, Sasuke nods, blinking when he sees his sword at the weapon holster worn around Naruto's hip. "You found it."

"Yeah, Itachi had it." Naruto's upper teeth press down on the corner of his mouth. "I didn't use it or anything. I just..."

Eyebrows scrunched, he moves closer, two steps forward, resting his chin on Sasuke's shoulder. His voice lowers to a whisper, breath tickling the shell of Sasuke's ear as the hand reaching behind Sasuke's back fiddles with the hem of Sasuke's jacket dusted with a light layer of sand. "You don't look so hot. You sure you're okay?"

"Are you?" Sasuke murmurs, absently reaching with his left hand to pull on the outdated dog tags at the end of the ball chain hanging from around Naruto's neck.

Though he personally thinks them more practical, the tags themselves don't circulate much use anymore. Most people who wear them do so out of sentiment for the old ways, using the tags as a kind of rebellious statement against society's overdependence on technology, but Naruto claims wearing dog tags makes him look cool.

Closing his eyes, slowly, he breathes in then breathes out, unconsciously leaning into the weight solid against him. If Naruto notices him shifting a little closer, he doesn't say anything about it.

"Yeah, I'm good. My arm's still a little achy, but it's like it didn't even happen." Naruto pauses, quiet for a moment held too long, embrace uncomfortable too stiff, seemingly caught in some kind of stupor until his hold around Sasuke becomes tighter.

"I was mad at you at first, you know," he says. "Really mad. For acting so stupid, risking your life for me like that, but then Itachi knocked some sense into me, so, I, um...thanks. Not that I won't kick the crap out of you myself if you ever try that again, but I owe you. Big time."

Sasuke lets out a light scoff. "I'd like to see you try anything. Keep this up, and I'm going to lose track of how many times I've had bail your sorry ass out of trouble."

Naruto ducks his head, nuzzling Sasuke's neck, trying to leave an imprint of a grin against his skin. "That's kind of what I'm hoping for."

"Idiot," Sasuke mutters softly, giving the dog tags a sharp tug that only earns from Naruto a soft laugh. Rolling his eyes, he lets the dog tags fall from his fingers.

"What sort of place is this, anyway?"

"A prison. Obviously."

"Smartass." Squeezing Sasuke's side, Naruto snorts, raising his head. "Somehow, though," he says, a quick glance to the emptied cells on either side of them, "I'm starting to get the feeling it's a little more than that."

"Probably was. It's more of a crypt now."

"Whatever you want to call it," Naruto says, backing away and bending down to pick up his jacket, "this place's a little too creepy for me." He ties the sleeves around his waist. "I know I'll feel a lot better when we get out of here. Should probably find Itachi first, though."

"You lost him."

"Not really."

Sasuke gives him an expectant look.

"Kind of. Sort of. Maybe. Well, I think he's up ahead," Naruto says, hand scratching the back of his head a clutter of blond strands blotched with spots of blood and dirt. Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds, "Somewhere."

"Yeah. That's really helpful."

"I try." Naruto shrugs. "But you know how it is. Even you have a hard time sensing him when he starts doing the whole shadow technique thing."

"You two split up?"

"Only to cover more ground, though. Once you get down to it, this place is actually pretty big. Especially for something under the desert. The whole thing's like some kind of tunnel system, but we found two ways to get in. The way I came, there's this really old, rickety looking outcrop, part of this huge rock that was completely covered in sand, I went through that door.

"The other entrance is all the way on the other side. Itachi said he'd take that one, and then we'd work our way down to meet in the middle."

"...damn it."

"What is it?"

"Let's go."

"Hey, where're you—"

"Come on." Pulling away from the hand gripping his wrist, Sasuke runs back down the corridor. He doesn't bother to check to see if Naruto's following him, instead quickening his pace to reach Juugo before his brother did.

...

It can't take much more than a minute to reach Juugo, two at most, yet the seemingly long trek feels longer than Sasuke anticipates despite every step fast and faster one foot in front of the other.

Assuaging his unease, standing idle where right he left him, Juugo looks up at his hurried approach, in his eyes a wavering emotion Sasuke doesn't want to put a name to.

As soon as he enters the cell, however, beneath the threshold he stills at the fleeting brush of shadow magic. It takes him by surprise, abnormally cold, this almost void sensation he's never felt from his brother before, yet unlike his misgivings about the magic from Juugo's collar, because he's knows it's Itachi, the magic remains reassuring in its familiarity.

His eyes dart behind Juugo, to the far left corner of the cell where the tattered old quilt lies, but it's a futile search for Itachi's presence too well cloaked in the darkness. Admittedly, this is a part of Itachi's assiduous nature he's rarely seen, the more militant side of his brother notoriously rumoured to be opportunely shrewd, if not wholly unforgiving on the field. For now, he knows Itachi is simply observing, lying in wait until he deems it necessary to intervene.

Unaware of Itachi, brow furrowed, Juugo takes a step forward. "Sasuke, are you—"

A steady rhythm of rapid footfalls cuts sharp through Juugo's voice, and Sasuke finds himself being yanked back, before he can even process the abruptness of the movement the material of his jacket seized by Naruto suddenly standing in front of him.

There's an immediate shift of the air from the floor. A low torrent flares around Naruto. The air gathering from underneath his boots quickly swells with a muted rumble, enclosing them in a shallow contour that shoots up from the floor.

In a violent surge of noise it rises. Louder and louder, ricocheting off the walls, a piercing roar becomes the effect of a dissonant whirl at Naruto's command, surrounding them normally tranquil currents now rapid winds that easily had the potential to carve through flesh and bone.

But the display's over in a matter of seconds. After the initial stage of formation, gradually, comparatively quiet, the barrier lapses into a low effervescent hum that settles closer to the floor.

The resulting displacement of air whips across his face, stinging his eyes, and Sasuke grits his teeth, berating his carelessness because it's his own damn fault for not telling Naruto about Juugo beforehand. "He's not a threat, so back off. Now."

Naruto ignores him. He plants his feet on the floor, the toe of one foot shuffling back a little to take on a slightly wider stance. Right hand held steady at his side, fingers outspread curving upward, in his palm a small whorl begins to take shape, a mass of volatile magic scarcely contained in a sphere progressively growing in size.

A visible tension creeps into Juugo's frame. Tiny flecks of yellow seep into darkening pupils, more than apparent enough to keep an already highly alert Naruto on edge, yet for Juugo's previous assertion that he was a calming presence, Naruto's reaction aside, even if Juugo feels indebted to him now, Sasuke can't quite pinpoint what exactly about Naruto could trigger the very same mindless rage that hadn't had a sway on Juugo while they were alone.

Granted, he hasn't known Juugo long, and for a brief moment he wonders if it has anything to do with Juugo's ability to sense auras, if he could possibly sense Kyuubi sealed inside of Naruto, but whatever the case may be, intuition tells him it's more than simply Juugo's concern for the state of his wellbeing.

Not that Naruto's refusal to listen is doing anything other than working to escalate a precarious situation further.

"Stop trying to provoke him. He won't do anything unless you provoke him."

Resolute, Naruto remains tight-lipped, keeping Sasuke behind him and away from Juugo's line of sight.

"_Stand down_."

The resistance Sasuke expects. The hand taut gripping tight enough that through his jacket he can feel the depressions from Naruto's fingers sinking into his skin. It takes a considerable amount of control to sustain the magic needed for an energy field on this scale, more so for one constructed from wind magic. With Naruto's seemingly endless reserves, a testament to how powerful Naruto actually is, an improper release would set off a backlash destructive enough to cause the entire structure to collapse and bury them alive.

No, it's the cool, sanctimonious tone of Naruto's voice that ultimately pisses him off.

"...you're not even military."

"Don't you dare start with that civilian shit again."

It's been an unremitting assumption made too often by those around him, that he's someone who needs to protected, that despite his abilities he still isn't capable of taking care of himself, but it's always been an assumption Naruto would never think to make.

Yet ever since Naruto was accepted into the Academy, that one defining moment the extenuating factor underlining just how different their lives would be, his lack of formal training and field experience have been a source of contention between them, but the hell if he was going to stand back and allow Naruto to treat him like everyone else.

Another torrent of wind rises to encircle them, rousing Juugo's low growl deafening in the cell, and the hand that's yet to let go of Sasuke's jacket keeps him close. "You jackass, _don't_."

"You know why I can't."

Sasuke clenches his fist, tongue pressed hard against the back of his teeth in a failed attempt to temper his increasing agitation. As often as Naruto liked to invocate living by his own personal code of conduct, motivated by his own sense of morality, there's something to be said about how often he also liked to choose times like these to abide by protocol.

But he knows exactly what this is. It's a diversionary tactic. It's Itachi's way of assessing Juugo. Purposely goading him, it's Itachi using Naruto to gauge the extent of the kind threat Juugo may pose.

It's the only reason his brother hasn't decided to intervene until now.

"Stand down, Uzumaki."

This time Naruto does so without hesitation. Hovering above his palm, the dense sphere of magic is immediately dispelled. The barrier erected around them slowly begins to disperse, a sharp whish of air that rises and falls, reduced to a gentle breeze harmless at Naruto's feet until it dissolves completely.

But he doesn't do it because of Sasuke.

Beneath the veneer of shadow magic, with light steps taken few that make little sound, Itachi emerges from the darkness once obscuring him from view. He disregards a startled Juugo for the moment, deceptively ignorant of Juugo's stiff posture, nonchalant yet still poised to draw the sword behind his back should the occasion arise.

At a calculated vantage point, he stands with his back to the wall, distancing himself halfway between Naruto and Juugo. Overlooking Sasuke, he gives Naruto a nearly imperceptible nod.

Fingers digging into his palms, arms too rigid at his sides, from beneath his breath Sasuke nearly scowls, irritated at them treating him as if he isn't here, as if he can't take care himself without being under some kind of supervision—never mind the fact he has the magic to kill another person with a mere touch of his hand against skin—but he releases the frustration with a sigh, turning his gaze to a red-eyed Juugo still unsure, a deferential Juugo who looks to him for guidance with a far too implicit trust, because this is neither the time nor place to vent.

He steps out from behind Naruto, doing well to ignore the hand that finally lets him go. "It's fine, Juugo. They're the ones who came with me."

The tension in his body notably absent, breathing in deeply and allowing his shoulders to relax, Juugo looks between Itachi and Naruto. "Forgive me. I have no hostile intentions. I only wish to ensure Sasuke's safety."

Naruto's eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. "Something you might want to share with the rest of the class?" he says, watching Sasuke from the corner of his eye, "because last I heard, whenever you're lost in Bumfuck, Nowhere 101, according to An—"

"I owe Juugo my life."

Itachi narrow his eyes, resorting to their native Japanese; it's an all but defunct language yet one they preferred to use in lieu of the more widely accepted English standard. "Explain," he says, disturbingly calm, voice low tinged with a quiet disapproval.

Barely, Sasuke resists the urge to flinch beneath the intensity of his brother's attentive gaze. For Juugo's sake, however, he responds in English. "Juugo found me in the desert and brought me here. Instead of leaving me out there to die, he risked his own life to take care of mine. He saved me."

He decides to leave out the incident with the collar for the time being, not quite dismissing Itachi's gaze eyeing the light bruising still around Juugo's neck, but he neither wants nor needs to be the centre of any more of his brother's or Naruto's highly discriminate concern. That's not what they have to focus on now.

"More importantly," he adds, "Juugo's crossed paths with Orochimaru. And he may be able to provide inculpatory evidence against him."

It's enough to pique Itachi's curiosity, a near immaterial flicker of interest in dark eyes still circumspect on the subject matter of what to do with Juugo. Nonetheless, it's an interest garnered in Sasuke's favour. One he'll willingly take.

"Even if we are close to Hanggai territory, the Federation making camp on a tiny wasteland planet like this," Naruto says in English, then switching over to Japanese, "how do you know this Juugo guy isn't working for Orochimaru?" Gesturing with a slight motion of his head towards Juugo, he challenges Sasuke with a critical stare. "That this isn't all part of some scheme for that snake to get his hands on you, huh?"

"Because I do," Sasuke says, leaving no room for question. It's not his place to tell Juugo's life story.

Aloof, Itachi leans against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. He lowers his head, closing his eyes, shoulders slightly hunched forward, but he doesn't say anything.

"Eh, your word over his." Apart from a dithering certainty, Naruto seems easily enough appeased, although Sasuke will grudgingly admit it probably has more to do with Itachi's presence than his own sentiment towards Juugo. "I'll take it."

"This Orochimaru," Juugo says, somewhat tentative, speaking up after receiving a slight nod from Sasuke, "my people called him the Snake Charmer. He and the Masked Men raided our villages and enslaved us. They plagued our lands for many years. They're the cause of the devastation you've seen. Their pillaging has decimated my people and turned my home into a desolate wasteland. The Barrah I know is no longer as it once was."

"Oh, I, uh..." Chastised, at a loss for words, Naruto drops his head, staring at the floor. He licks his lips as he looks up, stammering out an apology in English. "Sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean to—"

"There's little that can be done to ease past grievances, but if your goal to prevent the Snake Charmer from causing others the same suffering he's brought upon me, as I told Sasuke, I only seek to help."

Shifting against the wall, Itachi raises his head.

Sasuke meets his hardened gaze, from his peripheral mindful of the other two pairs of eyes watching him, but it's only his brother he sees, feels suddenly sweep over him this abject sensation of _cold_, a discrete cold festering inside him like phantom remnants of the magic he couldn't identify from Juugo's collar, and he finds himself forcibly willing down a burgeoning sense of foreboding staring into the abyss of dark eyes so familiar to his own.

"Well..." Naruto clears his throat, antsy, shuffling his weight from one foot to the other. "I guess that answers the question of whose side you're on."

Juugo remains quiet.

Itachi's gaze doesn't waver.

Suppressing a gnawing discomfort, Sasuke addresses him in Japanese, confirming his brother's wordless suspicion regarding Juugo's knowledge of the language. "Juugo's asked to come with me."

He's careful to keep his voice neutral, not wanting his perceived empathy to be seen as a weakness. It's been used against him too many times before, the same pitiable justification of not being able to control his emotions because he feels _too much_, used over and over again to discount what little say he does have in his life, but it's not empathy that's making him feel so adamant about Juugo. It can't be. Not this time.

"With us."

No longer leaned against the wall, arms held still at his sides, Itachi takes a single step forward. "That's not your decision to make."

"I have no intention of—"

"It's not your decision to make."

"We don't have much of a choice. Not if you plan on getting out of this place any time soon. He can help us. And he already knows about me, about my magic, so the only viable recourse is to—"

"Are you crazy?" The accusation is an angry hiss, and Naruto reaches for the sleeve of Sasuke's jacket gathered in his hand stiff balled into a fist. "Putting yourself out there like that, might as well start wearing a homing beacon, or get a tattoo on your forehead that says fair game and call it a day. You _know_ you're not supposed to—"

"I didn't tell Juugo anything." Sasuke forces the words through clenched teeth, ripping his arm from Naruto's grip without breaking his brother's gaze. "But I am vouching for him."

Mouth drawn in a line tight, he breathes in. With a soft exhale slow, he tries to emulate his brother's expression, controlled, unyielding. "I'm requesting parley on his behalf."

Itachi doesn't even pause to consider it. "Request denied."

It shouldn't surprise him. In times like these, when each day fewer and fewer people could be trusted, especially where his safety's concerned, he already knows his brother could be incredibly hidebound, in some ways knows to expect it by now, and yet Sasuke bristles all the same, because he's not some stupid naive kid who doesn't understand anything about the world around him.

Forsaking Juugo here would be a death sentence.

"You can't deny him that. He's lost his people, his way of life. He's been forced to watch everything die around him. This prison is all he has left. This crypt he's been living in—_this_ is what he calls home now. He can't even remember how long he's been trapped here, but he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He doesn't have anyone to turn to."

"...alone in a creepy place like this," Naruto says, voice soft barely a whisper, sparing a quick glance at Juugo before turning pensive eyes on Itachi. "If he's been stuck here for that long, and Orochimaru really is behind all those things, then maybe he isn't..."

Behind his back, Sasuke feels fingers discreet sneak beneath the hem of his jacket, slip beneath his shirt, the soothing warmth from Naruto's hand a gentle pressure against his skin, and he heaves a sigh at the grounding touch that steals away the cold.

He knows Naruto won't directly defy Itachi's orders. As familiar as Naruto is with Itachi, Itachi is still his CO, and Sasuke wouldn't ask him to overstep whatever boundaries they have between them. At the very least, though, he can be appreciative Juugo's situation appeals to Naruto's sympathetic nature.

Appealing to Itachi, however...

"I won't leave him here. He's the last of his kind. I can't—"

"That's enough, Sasuke."

"But Niisan—"

"He's not my priority. You are. Don't let your empathy delude—"

"Stop making everything about me. This isn't about me. It's about Juugo. I don't even know how he's managed to stay alive down here for so long, but—"

"The matter isn't up for discussion." Yet to raise his voice, Itachi's maintains his infuriating calm, narrowed eyes stern with an unrelenting scrutiny Sasuke doesn't shy away from. "My obligations lie within the safety and continued survival of this crew. As your commanding officer, I —"

"Juugo will die if we leave him here, _Admiral_. As my commanding officer, you didn't find me. As my commanding officer, you weren't there. Juugo found me. Juugo was there. He's the one who..."

It's a low blow, childish even, and Sasuke knows it. Yet he pretends he doesn't see the momentary hurt breaching the apathy in dark eyes, ignores Naruto's soundless warning the tightening grip from the hand that stilled resting against his hip, but he can't leave Juugo. Not like he was forced to leave Shisui at the river that day, when the arms seized around him pried him from Shisui's lifeless body he was trying to save.

Despite the fact he'd almost killed himself in the process, however futile his attempt to bring Shisui back to life, an irrational part of him—that helpless eight year old sentenced to watch his cousin die—still doesn't forgive Itachi for interfering, but the Admiral once said he trusted his judgement.

Right now, he needs his brother to prove it.

"...Juugo's the one who saved me when you couldn't." He can only hope this open display of defiance doesn't come back to bite him. "Sir."

Persuaded for now, beneath the guise of a low grunt, Itachi's concedes, but the gesture's more than enough for Sasuke to have the courtesy to look away first.

At the very least, this is his brother humouring him, because if Itachi truly believed Juugo was too great a risk to be kept alive, there'd be little Sasuke could do to convince him otherwise.

"And for that I'm grateful." Impassive, if not brisk, Itachi acknowledges Juugo with a slight bow of his head, gaze steadfast held high never leaving Juugo's. "Thank you. For taking care of Sasuke."

Somewhat discomfited by the gratitude, almost as if he couldn't understand why Itachi would thank him, Juugo returns Itachi's bow with a much lower one of his own. When he raises his head, it's to reveal a self-effacing smile that doesn't do much to diffuse the standing tension. "I apologise. If I'd known my presence would cause such undue strife, I wouldn't have—"

"Nah, they'll get over it. They act like that all the time." Naruto waves away Juugo's concern with an errant hand that barely misses hitting Sasuke's cheek. "With how close they are, though," he adds, through a conspiring whisper too loud to really be considered a whisper, "you'd actually think the two of them were—"

"Shut it." With a half-hearted shove against Naruto's shoulder, Sasuke tries to shrug him off. "I'm not forgiving you for that crap you pulled on me."

Not deterred, unsurprisingly, Naruto doesn't leave him alone, retaliating with an apologetic squeeze light Sasuke doesn't necessarily object to. "Is it okay to introduce ourselves yet? Because things tend to go a lot easier in this kind of atmosphere when names are used," he says, looking to Itachi for an approval he doesn't even wait for.

"Uzumaki Naruto." His mouth curves into an overbearing, far too cheerful, grin, hand falling away from Sasuke's back as he raises the other to give Juugo a thumbs-up. "If you haven't heard of me before, you'll definitely remember me now."

"Admiral Uchiha," is Itachi's contribution, curt yet still polite despite the deliberate show of distance driven by his formality.

A little more at ease, Juugo makes another attempt at a smile. "The name Juugo is all I've known, the only name I've been called, yet only one of many that have been given to me."

"Now that the hard part's out of the way," Naruto says, "do you listen to yourself when you talk? Because you really do speak kind of funny." He squints at Juugo. "I mean, I don't know much about your home or your people—nothing, really—but just what kind of guy are you?"

Sasuke's elbow jabs Naruto in the side.

"Hey, what was that for? I was just asking a question. The guy's seriously starting to sound like your Shadow Number Two right now, and if we're going to be stuck here for a while, the last thing we need is another Neji tagging along."

"You don't just ask people things like that."

"An old soul, my father would call me," Juugo says. "An old soul forever destined to wander through time among the stars in the bed of the Unreachable Sky."

"Hmm." Naruto pauses, expression thoughtful, chin held high between a forefinger and thumb. "Okay, look, as deeply insightful as all of that really does sound, there is nothing about what you just said that makes any kind of sense to me. At all."

There's a kind amusement in Juugo's eyes. "Much of what we don't understand is already the answer to a question we've yet to ask."

"You two," Naruto says, pointing between Itachi and Juugo. "You two would probably get along a little too well. Stay away from each other." In the wake of another silence, his attempt to lighten the mood finally falls short. Sober, with a heavy sigh, he turns to Itachi, raising his elbow to rest comfortably on Sasuke's shoulder. "So what do we do now, Admiral?"

"Return to the ship," Itachi says. "Salvage what we can before dark."

"It's only a few clicks back," Naruto says, answering the unspoken question in Sasuke's eyes. "Passed it on the way here looking for you. The dunemite didn't do that much damage to the hull. I think. Not for such a small ship being a glorified escape pod, anyway. Then again, I didn't have time to get a good look at the combustion engine or the propulsion system, so I don't know how long it'll take to get her to fly again, but I should be able to scrape up something that'll at least get us to the port outside Jolenai."

Breathing out, Sasuke closes his eyes for a moment, trying not to lean against Naruto more than he already is. Adrenaline wearing off, the overuse of his magic in such a short time span is finally starting to catch up with him, and he opens his eyes, blinking away a passing bout of fatigue. After healing Naruto's arm, if he hadn't tried to remove Juugo's collar, he probably wouldn't feel this drained, but he's not so inept that he can't use his magic to help jumpstart the ship's physical repairs. "I'll help with the—"

"No."

Ready to argue, a retort sharp on the tip of his tongue at Itachi's outright refusal, Sasuke purses his lips instead. He may not have Naruto's stamina when it comes to magic, but he knows his own limitations. He's pushed past much worse than this. After countless hours spent training under his own programme in the Simulation Chamber, he's well aware of what he can and can't do.

Yet he doesn't want to upset his brother any further. He's tested Itachi's patience enough as it is, and while Itachi is better at concealing his emotions than most, to the point where he's even difficult for Sasuke to read despite his high level of empathy, from the moment they were separated during the storm, it's a given that Itachi's been worried.

But he's still going to contribute _something_.

"The Masked Men you mentioned before," he says to Juugo, remembering their earlier conversation, "is there a chance they left any of their technology behind? I know they had to have some kind of power source. Probably a few storage facilities. Maybe weapons, too. Whatever you can think of, we can always use the extra parts."

"There's a dale a day and a half's walk beyond the prison," Juugo says. "The river no longer sustains life as it used to, but those of my people who were enslaved for labour would mine the surrounding mountains for metallic stone."

"Mostly likely for a rare ore mineral," Itachi says. "Something delicate enough that it can only be mined by physical means, in order to preserve specific natural properties during the annealing process."

Sasuke looks to Naruto with a slight frown. "The summit we went to in March last year, remember that Kabuto guy who presented the proposal to push more experimental development with Magdunium alloy."

"But he was shot down, wasn't he?"

"Because the production costs are too high," Itachi says. "It's an alloy contingent upon exceedingly precise and difficult to maintain parameters. The resources needed simply aren't readily available. And due to the largely diminutive turnover, it presents too many legal hurdles to obtain mining permits that would allow for such invasive procedures."

"We didn't even know Barrah existed yesterday," Sasuke says. "It's not even in the navigation libraries. The prospect of an uncharted planet offering no regulations for a resource like Magdum, something that could be turned into a near indestructible alloy, that's enough incentive."

"Might be," Naruto muses aloud. "Only reason I can think anyone would go through the trouble of mining when there're a lot of easier metals to get your hands on. Especially with all the technology out there for it." He turns to Juugo. "The metal you mined, do you know where it was taken?"

"On the other side of the dale we were told to dig a basin. There we were forced to take those of my people who didn't survive the Snake Charmer's experiments, and there we would pile the bodies of the dead. Past that basin, I believe, is where the metallic stone was taken."

Itachi's features harden.

"That you can even say something like that with a straight face..." Slightly pale, Naruto swallows. "...shit."

Sasuke holds Juugo's gaze, a quiet understanding passing between them. Alone, Juugo's spent years faced with the deaths of his people. But as he said, he's come to terms with his past, learned to make peace with himself, and Sasuke won't belittle his suffering with something as meaningless as pity.

"Although my memory is vague," Juugo says, "I can still lead you there, should you wish to go, now that Sasuke has freed me from the curse of the collar that once held me captive."

Again, Itachi glances at Juugo's neck then turns to Sasuke, a silent reprimand in his eyes the precursor of an inevitable discussion in the near future.

Slightly subdued, Sasuke ignores Naruto's curious gaze.

"We're under a time constraint, so we'll have to act quickly."

"That unflagged ship that intercepted us," Naruto says, "you think it followed us all the way out here? I mean, we didn't find any wreckage or debris. Not in a five kilo radius at least, so even if it landed here, after that hit you gave them, I doubt there'd be any survivors."

"I won't risk dismissing the possibility. In light of the situation, there may still be a chance reinforcements will be sent after us."

"It was a routine stop at an independent fuel port," Sasuke says. "We were in neutral territory. Flying under diplomatic immunity. Whoever they were, why would they come us after us at all?"

"Won't have to if another dunemite gets to us first," Naruto mutters. "...damn overgrown scorpions."

Itachi doesn't entertain Naruto's grumbling. "As I said, returning to the ship is our first priority," he says. "After a more thorough analysis, depending on the extent of the damage and what can be salvaged, whatever equipment or tools we can afford to carry, we'll bring here. This will be our primary site.

"Sasuke, I'm assuming your communicator is inoperable."

"Yes."

"Uzumaki."

Pulling himself away from Sasuke, Naruto stands up straight.

"We only have two working communicators. You have one, and I have the other. They will be on at all times."

"Understood."

"When we return from the ship, by the end of the night I want a finished preliminary report, including a full visual schematic on your PCD, a detailed catalogue of any projected inventory, and an ETC on the repairs.

"Sir."

"Juugo and I will move out for recon before dawn." Pausing, Itachi glances at Juugo, receiving a slight gesture in agreement. "We'll head for the mines and map out the general vicinity on the PNS. It'll take no more than four days. In the duration, you'll stay here with Sasuke."

With a low grunt, Naruto gives him a firm nod.

"But you'll need me to—"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Sasuke."

Startled, Sasuke blinks at the unexpectedly sharp tone.

Itachi looks back to Naruto. "While I'm gone, I expect you to begin repairs as much as you're able to and perform a comprehensive evaluation of the prison. Understood?"

"Got it." Naruto lets out an exaggerated sigh, stance more at ease as he turns to Sasuke. "And I thought you were the demanding one," he teases, stretched across his face a grin wide that immediately falters then disappears. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke closes his eyes. Breathing in. Breathing out. "...it's nothing, Naruto."

Naruto sighs. "Okay then. Great." He brings his hands together with a loud clap. "Who's up for another desert tour in the hot sun?" Voice wry, he adds, "Maybe if we pray together hard enough, we'll run into some kind of oasis before it gets too dark."

Opening his eyes, Sasuke watches Naruto walk towards Juugo, still beneath his brother's pervasive gaze that begins to wither his resolve.

"Has anybody told you how tall you are?" Too eager, maybe even overcompensating, Naruto delves into a largely one-sided small talk that leaves a bemused Juugo flustered a little by the earnest attention as they pass Sasuke. "Because you are a tall guy. A really tall guy."

Eventually, gradually, in the background his voice starts to fade, and with it he manages to lure Juugo out of the cell.

Yet instead of following, Sasuke stays.

And then it's just them.

Light steps light a fluid, contentious motion bring Itachi close, and suddenly his brother's an immovable force before him.

Awkward in the silence heavy between them, his hands clutch at the thick material keeping him warm, yet caught between his fingers and his palms, the cuffs of his sleeves too long only serve to remind him whose jacket he's wearing.

"Itachi, I..."

"You'll answer my questions later."

He stalls. Waiting for something he doesn't know, hazy in the back of his mind a tenuous expectation he can't quite place, he stares at the long tear running across Itachi's sleeveless shirt, a tapering line spanning down the length of Itachi's torso clad in black. His eyes linger too long on his brother's arms bare littered with tiny little scratches he almost reaches out to touch, the red marks thin too many he almost reaches with his hands to heal. "But Niisan, I—"

"Walk ahead of me, Sasuke."

The yearning gone, displaced by a disappointment too poignant, terse, Sasuke turns on his heel with a low scowl. The cuffs of his sleeves are pulled taut over his fingers, shrouding his hands as he walks ahead, as he tries to leave behind that unreadable expression his brother won't let him escape.

And that was that.


End file.
